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Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Concerning Costs Under the Copyright Act

by | Sep 27, 2018

Today the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case concerning how costs are awarded under the Copyright Act.  The Copyright Act provides that a court “in its discretion may allow the recovery of full costs” to a prevailing party under 17 U.S.C. § 505.  Currently, there is a circuit split over what costs are recoverable.  The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eighth and Eleventh Circuits have held that the Copyright Act’s allowance of “full costs” is limited to taxable costs under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1920 and 1821.  On the other hand, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that the Copyright Act also authorizes non-taxable costs.

The case is Rimini Street Inc. v. Oracle USA Inc., 17-1625, out of the Ninth Circuit.

Federal Circuit Rules Laches Can Limit Patent Damages

by | Sep 21, 2015

The equitable defense of laches can apply to claims of patent infringement damages suits, even when they are filed within the six year statutory period as defined by 35 U.S.C. §286, ruled the en banc Federal Circuit in SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC., Fed Cir., No. 2013-1564 (Sept. 18 2015).  In this narrow 6-5 decision, the court sitting en banc affirmed its earlier summary judgment, which dismissed SCA’s patent infringement suit for laches, from September of last year.

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Supreme Court Grants Cert. in Design Patent Damages Case

by | Mar 29, 2016

In the unending saga of Samsung v. Apple, the Supreme Court has recently granted certiorari on a single question relating to damages in a case of design patent infringement, that is: where a design patent only covers a single component of an overall product, should a damages award be limited only to those profits attributed to that component?  For more on this case, head over to SCOTUSblog. 

Patent Owners Can Recover Lost Foreign Profits

by | Jun 22, 2018

Following our previous report, the U.S. Supreme Court held in WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp. that WesternGeco, the patent owner, can recover lost foreign profits as a result of ION’s infringement under §271(f)(2) of the Patent Act. WesternGeco LLC v. Ion Geophysical Corp., U.S., No. 16-1011, 6/22/18.  Justice Thomas delivered the majority opinion in the 7-2 decision.

Over ION’s objection that the lost-profit damages occurred outside of the United States and the foreign conduct after ION’s infringement was necessary to give rise to the infringement, Justice Thomas wrote that awarding lost-profit damages under the circumstances was a domestic application, and therefore, consistent with the presumption against extraterritoriality that presumes federal statutes apply within the U.S.

16-1011 WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp. (06/22/2018)

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